Statements

Let Us Demand that those police officials who fabricated evidence against Jiten and others be brought to book! Oppose Death Penalty as a Form of Punishment of the State!

Invitation for a Convention: Delhi, India International Centre, Lodhi Road

20 December 2011, 10 am to 8 pm

Dear Friends, We extend our greetings from the Committee for the Release of Politicial Prisoners.

As we all know the Ranchi High Court have acquitted people's cultural artist Jiten Marandi and 3 others on the 15 December 2011. In this occasion the convention which was to be held on the 20 December 2011 demanding the acquittal of Jiten Marandi and Manoj Rajwar, Chatrapati Mandal and Anil Ram, who were framed in the notorious Chilkhari case will happen albeit with a slight change in the demands.

This convention has assumed significance at a juncture when the state is criminalising all forms of dissent with impunity. It is significant that Jiten Marandi who is from a poor peasant family, being from his own social location as well seeing the hardships of his people, through his songs of protest was trying to expose the growing trend of impunity of the state and the need for the vast sections of the masses to unite against all forms of oppression and exploitation. Jiten Marandi is also one of the secretaries of the CRPP. Jiten who became part of the Jharkand Aibhen a cultural platform of the oppressed and exploited Adivasis of Jharkhand gave vent to the anguish and sufferings of his people. In that process his voice became that of not only the oppressed and exploited in Jharkhand but of all those in the subcontinent who wanted to see an end to such dehumanising existence. He became the rallying point for all forms of resistance that gave voice to the anguish and anger of the most deprived, oppressed and exploited. For the first time a people's cultural activist was given death row for the only reason that he echoed the grave concerns of the toiling masses against the anti-people policies of the government.

With the increasing onslaught of the state on the everyday lives of the people in the form of the policies of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG) the people are left with little option but to resist against these policies of Displacement, Destruction, Destitution and Death-the four dreaded Ds. As a response the state is resorting to Death Sentence as a form of punishment to see an end to such resistance from the people. The so-called war against terror is also a convenient alibi through which the state further criminalises all forms of political dissent; it further targets the minority communities in the subcontinent. The CRPP has decided to hold a day-long convention on the need to oppose Death Penalty as a form of punishment resorted to by the Indian State against the masses of the people.

The day long convention in Delhi while focussing on the judgement of death sentence to people's cultural artist Jiten Marandi and others will also deal with the need to primarily oppose death penalty. It is important-while celebrating the acquittal of Jiten Marandi and 3 others-to dig deeper into the Chilkhari case, notorious for the criminal involvement of the guardians of law in twisting the whole process by fabricating evidence. One might recall that it was through the production false witnesses with criminal antecedents against Jiten Marandi that the police had ensured that Jiten Manoj Rajwar, Chatrapati Mandal and Anil Ram be condemned to the gallows. That despite such glaring anomalies about the nature of the evidence, the lower court deemed it fit to hang them to death is yet another pattern of growing instances of convictions of the poor and oppressed for their political views where the law has receded to the back seat and hatred and revenge taking precedence. It is important that the convention take note of these alarming and growing instances of impunity of the police and judiciary. The convention will be held at the India International Centre from 10am to 8 pm on the 20 December 2011.

History has shown whenever the people have come together against such heinous decisions of the state the latter had no option but to bow before the collective will of the people. We appeal to all progressive, democratic forces to be part of this struggle to abolish death penalty as a form of punishment of the state and also strengthen the cause for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.